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The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) will participate in a U.S. Department of Transportation pilot program aimed at evaluating the benefits of forming public-private partnerships (PPP) for federally funded transit projects.

The Public-Private Partnership Pilot Program, or Penta-P, was created under SAFETEA-LU to help USDOT officials determine whether PPPs speed project completion, provide more reliable projections of costs and benefits, and improve project performance.

As part of the program, the USDOT will study the use of PPPs for RTD’s East Corridor, a 23.6-mile commuter-rail line from Denver Union Station to Denver International Airport, and the Gold Line, an 11.2-mile light-rail line from Union Station to northwest Denver. Construction on both corridors is scheduled to begin in 2011 and be complete in 2015.

Construction and operating responsibilities will be transferred to a private entity or entities instead of bidding out specific jobs separately.